Walmart Black Friday Ads Hawk $38 Blu-ray Decks, ‘Guarantee Cards’
Walmart has pushed Black Friday solidly up against pumpkin pie and the start of the Jets-Patriots football game Thanksgiving night, announcing Thursday that doors will open for its first Black Friday “event” at 8 p.m. on Nov. 22 -- Thanksgiving evening.
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The retailer has broken out doorbusters into two Thanksgiving events this season, with the first starting at 8 p.m., the second two hours later. Event One deals include the Wii U-Draw for $10, an Xbox 360 4GB bundle with Skylanders starter kit for $149; Xbox 360 wireless headset for $25, select DVDs for $1.96, select Blu-ray discs for $7.96 and LeapFrog’s LeapPad 1 Explorer for $65. Event One and Event Two deals are good in stores only, and prices will hold through 11 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 23, “while supplies last,” according to Walmart’s circular released Thursday.
In a new twist, Walmart is guaranteeing three products will be in stock 10-11 p.m. Thanksgiving night. They're the 16GB iPad 2 ($399 with $79 gift card), an LG Blu-ray player ($38) and a 32-inch 720p Emerson TV ($148). If a store sells out of any of the three items, customers can purchase a “Guarantee Card” that will ensure that the purchased item will ship to that store before Christmas, according to the ad. Customers are limited to one price guarantee per product, it said. Guarantee Cards must be registered by Sunday, Nov. 23 at 11:59 p.m., and if Walmart can’t fulfill the order, a full refund will be given, according to the fine print. Guarantee card distribution will end at 11 p.m., Walmart said, an hour before the more traditional Black Friday midnight start time.
Additional Walmart deals for 10 p.m. Thanksgiving shoppers include an Emerson 40-inch 60Hz LCD TV ($198), a 60-inch Vizio connected LED-lit LCD TV with built-in Wi-Fi ($688), an HP laptop, without screen size or operating system listed ($279), an unbranded 24-inch LED-backlit LCD TV ($78), a 51-inch Samsung plasma TV ($478) and a 43-inch Samsung plasma TV ($378). A Vizio six-foot HDMI cable will sell for $8, it said, and a TV flat-panel TV wall mount for $39. Some of the TV specials are listed in the ad as “one-time” offers.
In PCs and peripherals, 10 p.m. deals include a Compaq Presario laptop with Windows 8 ($179), 15-inch HP laptop ($349) and HP 20-inch all-in-one PC ($389). A Belkin N300 router is marked down to $19.97 in the ad, and an Onn wireless mouse is stocking-stuffer- priced at $8, according to the ad.
Walmart is supplementing the in-store-only deals with mobile device apps designed to spur more shopping. The apps can be downloaded at app stores by phone, retrieved by text message or scanned in using a QR code in store, according to the circular. With the app, customers can search and buy Walmart products, create a favorites list using voice or text by scanning bar codes, scan items for price, find the nearest Walmart store, view local ads and rollback deals and “browse $4 prescriptions and order refills,” the retailer said. The ad doesn’t mention a feature enabling consumers to comparison shop retailers by price. Walmart didn’t respond by our deadline to questions about its rationale for the earlier Black Friday start, expectation for sales of guaranteed products or whether all stores will be required to participate in the 8 p.m. start.